“The hard drive?” she asked before she settled into the pillows he’d surrounded her with while she rested.
“Aric was here a few days ago. He took it to Blue Creek with him.”
“And the vampire?”
He couldn’t keep the growl from his voice. “Didn’t survive the crash. His helmet flew off, and the sun fried him.” Emmet had gone looking and found the smoking suit in a tangled heap not far from the wreckage. Niko hadn’t even been aware of his old Alpha’s presence until he’d shown up at the house hours later and told them what he’d found.
Rylee sighed and turned, facing him, then patted the area next to her. It was the same spot he’d occupied all week. The one he’d continue to keep warm every day of her life if she’d let him. As soon as he was lying next to her, she snuggled into his side, her head resting on his chest above his heart.
“Thanks for saving me. I wasn’t done with my tomorrows yet,” she whispered before closing her eyes and drifting off once more.
Epilogue
“No. No way in hell. Not a chance,” Niko said as he held Rylee’s phone above his head, just out of reach. He was goofing around, but try as he might to disguise it, the tone in his voice was dead serious.
She wiggled against his side, knowing full well what the move would do to him. Her breasts teased his chest, but then, maybe it was the other way around. The hot stroke of his skin against her nipples had them pebbling hard, demanding attention. How could she need him again so soon?
“Just let me respond to the text. Then I’ll put it away,” she pleaded. She trailed her fingertips down his chest toward that little patch of hair that led to her prize.
Goosebumps rose along his flesh. “Nope. Six months of no work. You agreed. And don’t think you can change my mind with that sexy body of yours.”
Rylee couldn’t stop her giggle from breaking free. “I agreed to three months. You and Luca bullied me into six.”
“Semantics. And don’t talk about Luca while we’re standing here naked. Besides, we have a shipment arriving later today.” The grin that lit his face couldn’t possibly be any wider than the one that creased her own.
“What time?” They’d placed the order for a brand new, custom Ducati what felt like years ago, and finally, her new bike was coming in. Ursula II was finally coming home.
“Supposed to be around two.”
Her heart raced, and she nibbled her bottom lip. Today was going to be special in more ways that one. Niko just didn’t know it yet. “That gives us plenty of time.” She slid her fingers lower, finally reaching his cock. Grasping it in a loose hold, she stroked it from root to tip.
“I like where this is going,” he said on a soft moan. His hand came down far enough for her to reach, and the look on his face when she snatched the phone from him—with his eyes wide and his mouth gaping open—would have been hilarious had it not been for the lust burning in their depths and the desperate need pounding through both her and her wolf. Rather than respond to the text, she hit the off button, then tossed the phone onto the bed. It bounced once, then went crashing onto the floor on the other side.
“Aren’t you going to ask me what we have time for?” she asked him, closing her fist tighter around him.
“I have a pretty good idea.”
She shook her head, and his eyes glazed over a little.
“What do we have time for, love?” he finally asked.
Leaning forward, she bit the skin over his heart. It wasn’t a gentle nip, but one that meant business. It had him moaning and his hips thrusting forward, pushing his cock deeper into her palm. “A proper mating,” she finally said once she released him.
Niko’s body went rigid. Pupils dilated, he focused his gaze on hers. “Are you sure?”
He hadn’t pressured her. Not once. They’d talked at length about what it would be like to be mated. It meant forever. It meant never being alone again. It was love, and devotion, and more passion than she thought possible. And she wanted it so much it hurt. Over the last couple of months, he’d taken her insecurities and obliterated them. He’d proven time and again that he wasn’t going anywhere. He’d helped her adjust to life as a shifter, introduced her to more of the pack, and had brought her more happiness than she’d ever dreamed.
“I’m ready for tomorrow. And the tomorrow after that, and the next one, too. I want all of them. Forever,” she said, her voice breathless with the magnitude of her words.
Mine. Mate him now, her wolf whimpered into her mind. The beast was insatiable and had begged for her mate every day since she’d woken after the crash.
Yes, it’s time, she told the she-wolf, infusing the words with a smile, adding to the creature’s joy.
Niko circled her in his arms, holding her so tightly she could hardly breathe.
“That is, if you want to,” she added.
“More than anything,” he whispered into her neck.
Lowering his arms so his forearms rested under her ass, he lifted her against him and walked with her to the bed they’d only minutes before vacated. He bathed her chest with kisses, pausing only long enough to capture a tight tip between his lips and tugging a little, just the way she liked.
He rested her on her back with her ass at the edge of the bed, settling himself between her legs. His cock, long and hard, rested on her pussy, and it
